[Faea Belgaen]
The survivalist trio, the Haulia Tribe, and the other Demihumans had arrived at the entrance to Faea Belgaen through the guidance of one of the elders of the kingdom, Alfredic Arpist. Yue marveled at the splendor of the entrance.
"Beautiful," she said.
Sargon nodded in agreement, "Indeed."
Meanwhile behind them, "Please don't get us involved in future mess-ups, dad," she said in pain, rubbing a particular spot on her head that swelled up into a ball.
"The Haulia Tribe will always be together in any situation," Cam said proudly, despite showcasing the same swelling ball on his head as well.
"Let us not waste anymore time. Please, follow me inside," said Alfredic.
Everyone proceeded to follow him into the entrance of Faea Belgaen.
[Inside one of the tree houses]
"Hmm, I see. So this whole world was the manifestation of a God's playground," he said in deep thought. "You don't seem all that surprised though."
Hajime snorted, "This world has never been kind to us from the start. Well maybe except him," he said pointing to Sargon, who only shrugged his shoulders.
Alfredic looked at him with a raised eyebrow before lowering it once more in acceptance.
"So, how much do you personally know about the Liberators," Hajime asked.
Alfredic, while shaking his head, said, "Only information passed down by the previous elders. 'The 7 Labyrinths were created by the ones called the Liberators. Don't show hostility towards those who bear the crest. If you find them likeable, lead them to wherever they wish to go' is what was said. The ring you have that has the crest of Oscar Orcus, is the reason I didn't antagonize you. However, you should know that not every demihuman follows this code, either due to ignorance, or just stubbornness."
Right after he finished, a loud crash was heard, followed by the door being broken and caved in, "Alfredic, you bastard! What the hell do you think you're doing allowing humans into here! As well as that cursed child!"
A well-built, demihuman male with some characteristics of a bear said as he barged in, hot-tempered. Alfredic responded in a calm manner.
"I'm merely following tradition. You are an elder as well, so you should know about those traditions as well."
The bear man, however, didn't really believe him, "So, you're saying these humans have the qualifications and are individuals we shouldn't turn against?! Hah! Don't make me laugh!"
The beastman then cocked his fist back as he charged towards Hajime, "Let's see how strong you really are!"
The beastman shot out his fist towards Hajime, who tilted his head and easily caught his wrist with his prosthetic arm, locking it in place. The beastman could no longer move. Afterward, Hajime cocked his own fist back while holding on to the beastman's wrist and shot his punch into his chest, causing the wind to be knocked out of him as well as flying out of the tree house.
"So, who else wants to be my enemy," Hajime said menacingly to the other beastmen standing at the door.
[A few minutes later]
"Hmm, yes. This is indeed the crest of Oscar Orcus. Well, you have my favor, stranger," said the fox beastman.
"Well you don't have mine," shouted the tiger beastman. "The rules said that you should lead them wherever they want to go if you like them right? Well I don't, and am against guiding them to the tree. And before you think the Haulia Tribe can, guess again! Those who would shelter a cursed child like her? They're to be executed per the decree of the Elder Conference."
Shea, panicked, pleaded with the beastman, "No! Please! Spare my tribe's life, I beg–"
Before she could get her sentence out, Cam put a hand on her shoulder.
"That's enough, Shea. We've already resolved ourselves," he said gently.
Shea tried to argue, but was cut off again by her father, "We chose to shelter you of our own volition, knowing what would happen because of that. You have no fault in our fate, Shea. Remember what I said; the Haulia Tribe shall always be together in any situation," he said while Shea cried.
The beastman laughed at the scene, "Well your way to the tree isn't clear, I'm against helping you, and the Haulia are going to be executed. So, what're you going to do now," he said with a sneer.
Despite the question being directed at Hajime, it was Sargon who responded, "It seems you're misunderstanding something very important, mister," he said as he stood up.
The beastman looked at him with a frown, "And what's that supposed to mean?"
Everyone was also staring at Sargon in confusion, wondering what he was about to say.
Sargon continued, "Exactly what it sounds like. You see, we have already said that the Haulia Tribe is under our protection. This is what we promised to them. However, we had also decided that they would be the ones to guide us to the Great Tree, no one else. In other words, saying you won't help us get to the Great Tree? Acceptable. Saying you'll execute the Haulia Tribe? Not without suffering many losses, including but not limited to," he tapped his cane in front of him, "Your life."
The room was dead silent after Sargon's words, which sounded calm and somewhat nonchalant, but carried a very real, very dangerous certainty behind them. Hajime smirked,
"Couldn't have said it better myself."
Yue smiled and also rose from her chair. Shea, on the other hand, was once again baffled and star-strucked by how far these 3 were going for not only her, but also her tribe, especially when it came to Sargon.
Alfredic sighed, "So there's no point in trying to convince you all otherwise. Very well, I hereby declare the Haulia Tribe dead. There's no point in executing that which is no longer alive."
Once again, shocked faces appeared within the room, aside from the survivalist trio.
"What the hell?! Alfredic, what are you–"
"You should know this by now, Zell. There are no negotiations with these people regarding the current situation. You heard the man, didn't you? If we follow through on the execution, we'll be seen as hostile, and they will follow through with their own decree. I don't think I need to tell you how many lives would be lost afterward, right," he said with one eye open, looking at the beastman.
Zell gritted his teeth while sweating, fully knowing the consequences of challenging those 3. Alfredic then walked over and stood in front of Sargon.
"*Sigh* It pains me to not be able to welcome you 3 per the traditional rules, but this is how things are now," he said with reluctance.
Sargon waved his hand in an effort to dissuade the concern, "Fret not about it. Despite our refusal to budge, we're aware that this is very unreasonable within your kingdom's culture."
"Alright, come on all of you, let's get moving," Hajime said, already positioned at the door to leave.
Yue soon followed Hajime.
Sargon turned to leave as well, but then glanced over at Shea, who hadn't moved a muscle since he had made his declaration.
"Shea," he called, which snapped her out of her trance.
"Huh," she responded, a little delirious.
Sargon reached out his hand and smiled, "Come. Let us all be on our way out of here."
Shea smiled as well while tears formed in her eyes. Instead of taking his hand, she rushed over and hugged him, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll never let you go!"
Sargon, momentarily caught off guard by the sudden hug rush, returned it with an amused, yet comforting look on his face. Hajime and Yue, meanwhile, couldn't help but smile as well seeing the display.
[Transition]
"Alright all of you. Since we're currently going to be stuck here for a while, we might as well train you to become competent at defending and fighting for yourselves," Hajime started suddenly.
The rabbitmen looked at Hajime with concern, "Fight? Us," one of the rabbitmen asked.
Hajime, with a pointed gaze answered, "Yes you. You really want to continue being the weakest race for everyone to exploit and kill?"
At that question, all the rabbitmen grew silent and contemplated it. It didn't take long however, for a voice to sound.
"That's unacceptable," shouted Shea.
Hajime smirked, "Then all you need to do is get stronger. So, at least until it's time for us to leave for the labyrinth, we'll train you all to fend for yourselves. That alright with you 2," he asked looking towards Yue and Sargon
Both of them simply nodded with Sargon adding, "I have no objections.
Shea looked resolute, "Then please, teach us how to fight."
For the next 10 days, the Survivalist Trio proceeded to help the Haulia Tribe fight and better themselves. Yue would be the instructor responsible for Shea's magic training, Hajime had the rest of the Haulia tribe for weapons, combat, and survival training, while Sargon occasionally switched between both groups to offer his own guidance.
However the first few days of training with the Haulia Tribe wasn't exactly easy since their skittish, prey-like behavior made it difficult to train them properly. Things such as worrying about the sharpness of a knife, crying over animals they kill, falling over to avoid stepping on a line of ants, and getting distracted by a flower.
All of these setbacks had, inevitably, pissed off Hajime greatly.
"ATTENTION ALL OF YOU! FROM NOW ON, YOU ARE ALL WORTHLESS AND DISGUSTING *****. LET ME CATCH YOU GETTING DISTRACTED OVER BUGS AND FLOWERS AGAIN, AND I'LL ******* **** YOU! YOU HEAR ME?! YOU WANT TO SURVIVE?! YOU WANNA LIVE?! YOU WANNA SEE TOMORROW AND THE DAYS AFTER?! WORK YOUR ***** OFF LIKE IT'S YOUR LAST DAY! I **** IT WILL BE IF YOU PISS ME OFF LIKE THIS AGAIN, YOU *******!!!!
If that didn't jumpstart everyone into high gear, maybe nothing will. Luckily, they no longer complained when things got too hard or rough, if only to avoid Hajime's screams and rubber bullets for the time. As for Yue, Sargon, and Shea.
"Uuuuuuh, was that Hajime?! I didn't think he could get that angry," she said, scared.
Her lack of concentration however cost her, as she was hit by a large ice wall and got shoved very far away. As she recovered, she saw Yue, who looked at her with a cold gaze and spoke in an equally frigid tone that shook her to the bone.
"Want me to do the same?"
Shea frantically shook her head. Yue then conjured up more ice constructs,
"Then I suggest you pay attention, and don't get distracted like that again."
Shea nodded profusely and focused on her current threat, which was Yue. Sargon, meanwhile sweatdropped and thought
'Those 2 really are made for each other, huh?'